Fresh from the Greenbelt

"Imagine my surprise on moving to Toronto to find that the city not only contains a giant ravine system—our equivalent to the canals of Venice—but that the rivers running through it also contain fish; quite a lot of them."

"Truth be told, I really like riding my bike. I like it so much that I have spent nearly a cumulative year of my life on cycling holidays, and in the first week of May I had the pleasure of adding one more feather to my cycling cap."

New Beamsville Bench Vineyard Trail opens at Graze the Bench in Beamsville this Saturday

Beamsville (May 28, 2013) - The host wineries of the annual Graze the Bench festival are suggesting that guests opt for their trail shoes this weekend. The group of seven wineries has created a new trail that will enable visitors to walk the event route through the scenic vineyards that produce their award-winning wines. Adjacent to the dramatic rock faces of the Niagara Escarpment, this section of the Beamsville Bench is a jewel in Wine Country with its rolling vineyards, naturalized areas and beautiful vistas of orchards leading to Lake Ontario. And now, visitors can experience it in a new way.

The Waterfront Regeneration Trust (WRT) and the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation have partnered to create a new 600 kilometer recreational cycling route through six Greenbelt regions, spanning from Northumberland to Niagara.

New Route Will Increase Tourism and Recreation and Support Local Economy

The Waterfront Regeneration Trust (WRT) and the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation have partnered to create a 600 kilometer recreational cycling route through six Greenbelt regions, spanning West from Northumberland, through the Greater Golden Horseshoe and ending in Niagara.

Spring is finally upon us and it brings us warm weather that’s perfect for picnics, farmers’ markets and cycling. And with the 2013 Ontario Bike Summit coming up I’m becoming more and more interested in purchasing a bike and trying out one of the many cycling routes traipsing through Ontario’s greenbelt.

Commissioned by the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network (CEGN), this report outlines some of the key issues related to urban sustainability in Canada, profiles some of the promising approaches, and explores various roles that the philanthropic community could play in moving communities forward in this field. The executive summary is provided below; for the whole report, please visit cegn.org.

On the first weekend in May, the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation travelled one of the Province’s most iconic urban river valleys by both foot and paddle: the Don River Valley. On Saturday, May 4th Foundation staff led a Jane’s Walk from Crothers’ woods to the Brickworks Farmers’ Market, covering topics from urban nature and river valley protection to local food and the importance of supporting our farmers. We even distributed local green salad mixes from Greenbelt farmers Rolling Hills Organics to participants in the walk!

For fresh air, clean water, healthy local food, and a thriving economy with good jobs Ontario’s Greenbelt is the solution. At almost 2 million acres, it’s the world’s largest permanently protected greenbelt, keeping our farmlands, forests, wetlands safe and sustainable.The Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation works to help keep farmers successful, strengthen local economies, and protect and grow natural features.